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[IIorsE  Bill,  No.  lf)l.] 

HOUSE    OF    REPIlESEffTATIVRS— Noverahor     14,    1864—      ' 
Read  first  and  secoud  times,  uiivie  special  order  for  Monday  next,  after 
morning  hour,  and  day  to  day,  and  ordered  to  ho  printed. 

[By  Mr.  Prrkins.] 


A.  BILL 

To  be  entitled  "  An  act    to  facilitate  the  ecttlement  of  claims  of  de- 
ceased officers  and  soldiers." 

1  The  Congress  of  the  Confederate  States  of  A jn erica  do  enact,  That 

2  there  shall  be  appointed  by  the  President,  by  and  with  the  advice 

3  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  an  additional  olficor  of  the  Treasury 

4  Department,  to  be  called  the  Fourth  Auditor,  who  shall  be  charged 

5  with  the  auditing  of  the  claims  of  deceased  officers  and  soldiers, 

6  in  accordance  with   the   laws  relating  thereto,  who  shall  receive 

7  for  his  services  a  salary  of dollars  per  annum,  and 

8  the  clerical  force   in  said  office  shall  consist  of  one  chief  clerk, 

9  with  a  salary  of dollars  per  annum,  and  a  Regis- 

10  ter,  with  a  salary  of dollars  per  annum,  and  one 

U  chief  of  division   for  each    State,  who  shall   be   a    citizen  of  the 

12  State  represented  by  his  division,  with  salaries  of 

13  dollars  per  annum  each,  anl   such  other  clerical  force  as  may  be 

14  deemed   necessary  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  expedite 


2 

15  the  business  of  this  bureau,  with  such  salaries  as  are  now  allowed  to 

1 6  similar  clerkships  in  the  other  Auditors'  o^ce :  Provided,  That  the 

17  claims  for  the  States  of  Arkansas  and  Missouri  shall  be  included 

18  in  the  division  for  Arkansas,  and  those  for  Kentucky,  Maryland 

19  and  Tennessee  shall  be  included  in  the  division  for  Tennessee: 

20  And  provided  further,  That  the  clerks  in  each  division,  other  than 

21  those  at  present  employed  in  the  settlement  of  these  claims,  shall 

22  be  appointed  from  citizens  of  a  State  represented  in  the  division 
25  to  which  they  are  appointed,  and  ^vho  are  not  liable  to  conscrip- 

24  tion,  and  that  said  Auditor  and  his  clerks  shall  be  hereafter  en- 

25  tirely    exempt  from  military  duty,  except   such  as  may  be  re- 

26  quired  in  the  preservation  and  defence  of  the  public  property  in 

27  their  charge. 

1  Sec.  2.   That  when  it  is  proven  that  any  officer  or  soldier  was 

2  wounded  and  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and  nothing  has 

3  been    heard   from    such  wounded   officer  or   soldier   for  twelve 

4  months,  this  fact  shall  be  deemed  sufficient  to  presume  death  at 

5  the  time  when  wounded  ;  and  the  claim  shall  be  audited  and  paid 

6  as  if  the  death  had  been  returned   by  the  proper    officer:  And 

7  further,  That  when  claims  are  filed    in    the  office  of  the  Fourth 

8  Auditor  it  shall  be  his  duty  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  thereof 

9  forthwith,  and  if  they  be  found  ta  be  mitarially  defective  in  pre- 

10  paration  or  evidence,  to  cause  them  to  be  returned  immediately 

11  to  the  claimants  with  special  instructions  for  amendment. 


"fern  ■ 

1  Sec.  3.   That  the  claiir.s  filed   from   any  State  shall  be  settled 

2  in  the  division  of   such  State   in  accordance- with  ^he  laws  and 

3  rules  heretofore  controlling  in  the  office  of  the  Second, Auditor, 

4  and   in  accordance  with  such  orders  and  regulations  as  mny  be 

5  hereafter  issued  and  approved  by  the   Secretary  of  War :   Pro- 

6  videdy  That  the  Fourth  Auditor  shall  have  discretionary  power 

7  equitably  to  determine  and  amend  immaterial  omissions  or  poinU 

8  of  evidence,  when  satisfied  of  the  justice  thereof,  so  as  to  avoid 

9  the  Bupcnsion  of  claims  for  trivial  causes,  and  to  enable 
10  him  to  perfect  the  evidence  required,  it  is  hereby  made  the  spe- 
ll cial  duty  of   all  officers  of  the  Government  to  respond  promptly, 

12  and   as  fully  as   their  records  will  permit,  to  his  calls  for  infor- 

13  mation  ;  and  the  Fourth  Auditor  is  hereby  further  authorized  to 
1  4  send   an  agent  for  each  division   to  the  troops  in  the  field  from 

15  the   State  or  States  composing  a  division,  and  to  whom  trans- 

16  portation  for  this  purpose   shall  be  granted,  to  obtain   from  the 

17  various  commanding  officers  final  statements  of  deceased  officers 

18  and  soldiers,  and  said  lists,  when  so  obtained,  shall  be  taken  and 

19  used  as  evidence  in  the   settlement  of  claims:  Provided  further^ 

20  That  the  claims,  when  settled,  shall  not  be  subjected  to  reference 

21  or  the   revision  of  any  other  officer  of  the  Government  what- 

22  soever. 

1  Skc.  4.   That  when  there  is  living  no  widow,  child  or  children, 

2  father  or  mother  of  the  officer  or  soldier,  at  the  time  of  hia death, 


4 

3  the  arrears  of  pay,  &c.,  shall  be  paid  equally  to  the  brothers  and 

4  sisters  of  the  deceased,  upon  their  own  affidavit,  and.that  of  one 

5  disinterested  corroborating  witness  as  to  such  relationship  ;  Pro- 

6  vided,  The  sum  does  not  exceed  one  hundred  dollars,  in  which 

7  case  letters  of  administration  must  be  had. 

1  Sec.  5.  That  the  certificates  of  pay  issued  in  the  settlement 

2  of  such  claims  shall  have  preference  in  payment  over  other  claims, 

3  and  shall  be  paid  by  any  paymaster  or  quartermaster,  or  the  Treaa- 

4  urer  of  the  Confederate   States,  on  presentation,  and  shall  be 

5  made  payable  alone  to  the  ascertained  representative  or  his  or 

6  her  executor  or  administrator,  and  be  assignable  by  the  claimant, 

7  in  writing  thereon,  to  any  other  individual  except  to  one  who  ia 

8  or  has  been  in  the  employment  of  a  Department  of  the  Govorn- 

9  ment. 

1  Sec.   6.  That  in  case  of  doubt  arising  in  the  interpretation  or 

2  construction  of  this  act,  the  Fourth  Auditor  shall  be  authorized 

3  to  obtain  the  opinion  of  the  Attorney  General,  through  the  Sec- 

4  retary  of  the  Treasury. 

1  Sec.  7.  That  the  claims  of  all  deceased  officers  and  soldiers 

2  from  the  trans-Mississippi  department  who  have  died   or  been 

3  killed  in  the  military  service,  or  who  may  hereafter  die  or  he 

4  killed  in  the  military  service,  may  be  settled  under  the  provisions 

5  of  this  act  by  the  Auditor  and  Register  of  the  Treasury  for   that 

6  Department,  under   such  regulations  as   shall  be  prescribed  by 

7  the  Fourth  Auditor,  to  guard  against  fraud  and  insure  expedition 

8  and  uniformity  in  their  settlement. 

1  Sec.  8.  That  all  existing  laws  conflicting  with  this   act  are 

2  hereby  repealed. 


